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by Tom Hill

A self-admitted wine geek, Tom lives in Northern New Mexico and works as a computational physicist at Los Alamos National Laboratory doing numerical neutron transport & large scale code development. He has been tasting wines since 1971, participates locally with a couple of large tasting groups in his area, and is practically a fixture at most California wine festivals, such as the Hospice du Rhône, Rhône Rangers, and ZAP. Other interests: Tom is heavily into competitive sport fencing (foil & epee), biking, cooking, basketball, skiing, backpacking, mountain climbing.

More New Wines - April 25, 2012

Last night (4/25/12) we tried some More New Wines: :

  1. Strasserhof DOC: Kerner ValleIsarco/AltoAdige (14%) Hannes Baumgartner/Strasserhof/Varna 2010: Light gold color; lovely fragrant/flowery/R-like/pineapple some chalky/minerally/steely very perfumed/aromatic nose; rather tart floral/R-like/pineapple some mineral/chalky/metallic/steely perfumed flavor; very long rather tart floral/pineapple/R-like mineral/chalky finish; very nice balance of mineral and aromatic fruit; more like a Riesling than anything; one of the best Kerners I've had. $32.50 (KK)
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  2. Bruna LeRusseghine Pigato DOC: Riviera Ligure di Ponente (13.5%) Liguria 2010: Light gold color; rather dusty/earthy some cheese/tangerine rind/perfumed talc maybe saline weird/interesting rather ripe nose; very acid/screechy saline/salado cheesy/metallic/earthy little fruit bit perfumed hard very austere flavor; very long screechy/acid grapefruity/saline/cheesy weird finish; very terroir-driven (I guess) wine that's hard to like; quite austere and strident on the palate. $27.00 (PMW)
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  3. Calera Viognier MtHarlan (14%) 1991: Med.dark gold color; rather nutty/toasted hazelnuts/ butterscotchy/graham cracker/cinammon slight floral/Viog bit oxidized nose; soft caraamel/butterscotch/ graham cracker bit spicy/old RhoneBlanc bit oxidized slight peach/Viog flavor; long somewhat nutty/ toasted hazelnuts/old Rhone/oxidized/ graham cracker slight peach/Viog finish; showing more oxidation than the one a week before; still speaks slightly of Viognier and still gives some pleasure. $30.00
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  4. RoyalTokaji Furmint Dulovalogatas (38% Betsek/62% Uragya; 2036 btls; 14%) 2009: Light gold color; rather earthy/ dusty/metallic slight floral/root cellar/wet pavement weak fruit nose; rather tart earthy/dusty/mineral some camphor light butterscotch/peppermint ribbon candy very light floral rather austere/lean/chalky flavor; long tart/lean/austere bit metallic/wet pavement/peppermint light floral finish; rather strange but interesting/austere wine. $33.50 (CB)
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  5. TelianiVlly Tsolikouri Tviishi/Lechkhumi (100% Tsolikouri; 13%; www.GeorgianWineHouse.com) 2007: Light gold color; rather attractive fragrant/spicy/cinammon unusual/spicy slight ripe/volatile/apple cider nose; soft fairly lush spicy/cinammon/apple/apple cider slight tannic rather unusual/interesting flavor; long some apple/cidery bit floral/ earthy mineral/metallic spicy/cinammon slight tannic finish; rather strange/unusual but interesting white; probably had skin-contact for some time, but no oxidation. $13.00 (CB)
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  6. Pheasant'sTears Mtsvane Manavi/Kakheti Dry Unfiltered Amber Wine (13%; 1450 btls; www.PheasantsTears.com) 2010: Med.dark gold color; very weird/bizarre fresh tanned leather/shoe repair shop/horse sweat no fruit slight oxidized complex nose; very tart bizarre horseside/fresh tanned cowhide/horse sweat/shoe repair shop rather tannic/ bitter earthy/rustic/coarse flavor; long tart/bitter/tannic horsey/shoe shop/tanned leather very weird finish; speaks of extended skin contact white but little signs of oxidation; a bit too weird for even me to like. $20.00 (CB)
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  7. Vigna del Vulcano Bianco DOC: Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio (80% Coda del Volpe/20% Falanghina; 13%; www.OMWines.com) Soc.Agr. Villa Dora/Terzigno 2008: Med.light yellow color; quite attractive spicy/floral/apple/ apple blossom slight leathery/earthy/stoney/mineral quite perfumed nose; soft rather lush/peach/pear/floral/apple blossom/spicy some waxy/parrafin slight tannic rather perfumed/ interesting flavor; med.long somewhat perfumed/floral/ apple blossom slight earthy/mineral/ stoney/ waxy slight tannic finish; quite a pleasant interesting wine; best Lacryme I've ever had. $23.00 (PMW)
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  8. Graci Quota DOC: EtnaBianco (70% Carricante/30% Catarratto; 12%; www.Graci.Eu) 2009: Med.yellow color; bit earthy/ mineral some appley/SauvBlanc-like little fruit slight cinammon/spicy nose; soft/fat rather earthy/rustic/coarse some 7Up/Sprite/citric/lemon rather earthy flavor; med.short soft/fat earthy/rustic/coarse low fruit slight citric/ 7Up finish; a terroir-driven wine (I guess); pleasant/rustic/coarse lacking in fruit and way overpriced. $38.00 (PMW)
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  9. Odisea TheWanderer NapaVlly (80 cs; 14.2%; 87% Syrah/10% PS/3% Viognier; www.OdiseaWineCo.com) AdamWebb/MikeKuenz; Danville/Murphys/Calif 2006: Dark color; strong blackberry/Syrah/jammy/simple some spicy/pepper rather ripe strong toasty/oak almost NapaVlly blackcurranty/Cab/plummy nose; soft/lush very ripe/plummy/blackcurranty/ blackberry strong toasty/charred/oak flavor w/ modest tannins; med. soft/ripe/jammy plummy/blackcurranty/blackberry stronh toasty/oak finish w/ light tannins; seems more like Cab than Syrah; pleasant but just that. $29.00 (Gomers/MT)
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  10. Carlisle ThreeBirds RW SonomaCnty (15.5%; 83% Grenache/15% Bedrock Mourv/2% Syrah; 250 cs; U/U) 2010: Med.dark color; very strong toasty/oak some minty/menthol strawberry/Grenache/ blackberry/boysenberry/plummy/licorice quite attractive nose; soft strong strawberry/Grenache/ plummy/Mourv smooth/balanced light menthol/oak/toasty flavor; light tannic smooth/balanced/polished strong strawberry/plummy/Mourv light menthol/toasty/oak finish w/ modest tannins; quite a nice GSM blend that should improve over the next 3-5 yrs because of its balance. $27.00
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  11. Pheasant'sTears Shavkapito Mukhrani/Kartli (13%; 1300 btls) 2010: Dark color; very earthy/dusty rather funky/unclean/ goat pen coarse/rustic bit pencilly/oak slight boysenberry/bing cherry/licorice interesting nose; rather sour/acid quite hard/tannic/rough/coarse/rustic some bing cherry/licorice slight pencilly flavor; med.lonng hard/tannic/rough quite coarse/rustic slight bing cherry/licorice finish; some interesting things therein but pretty rough/coarse/rustic red wine. $20.00 (CB)


And the usual BloodyPulpit:

1. Kerner: This is a Riesling X Schiava (Trollinger). Producer I've never had before. Maybe the best Kerner I've yet had.
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2. Pigato: This variety is DNA-wise identical to a Vermentino, but looks different. Sometimes described as a splotchy Vermentino. RobTebeau has a very good discussion on the grape in his FringeWine blog: (http://fringewine.blogspot.com/2012/01/pigato-riviera-ligure-di-ponente-ligura.html)
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3. Georgian Wines: They're still a genre of wine I'm struggling to wrap my arms around. I remember trying my first ones some 10-12 yrs ago. They were generally sweet and rather oxidized...not my cup of tea. When Russia banned the import of Georgian wines in 2006, it sorta left their wine industry high & dry and in search of an alternate wine market. "Why, of course, those rich Americans will buy our wine." So you're seeing a lot more Georgian wine on the market. The Pheasant'sTears of JohnWurdeman is probably the most prevalent. So I've been trying as many as I stumble across, mostly from DarrellCorti.

I find them sort of a mixed bag. Oftentimes "interesting" is about the only way I can describe them. I've had a few that I found quite attractive. And many that I'd describe as "weird", especially the whites fermented/aged for extended periods in qvervi. They seem to be very focused on "traditional" grapes and winemaking. "Eccentric" may be sort of a niche market that will support all the wines they have to market I fear.
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4. Carricante/Catarratto: These are two, primarily Sicilian, grapes I've had no experience with. Catattatto is the 2'nd most widely planted grape planted in all Italy, according to RobTebeau. Carricante is more planted in the MtEtna region of EasternSicily. Asimov's recent article on Sicilian Whites prompted me to start trying more of these wines. This one was pleasant enough..but just that.

TomHill

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